Climate change: assessing the good and the bad

A new research project aims to determine the impacts —both good and bad — climate change will have on the Canadian economy.

Climate Prosperity, an initiative by the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy, aims to determine both the costs and economic spinoffs climate change will bring to Canada.

“We need to change how Canadians see and think about climate change — from risk to opportunity, from cost to investment, from today to tomorrow,” states the program overview. “This is not just about coping with climate change, but prospering through it.”

Over the next year, the roundtable will issue seven reports that will set out the economic backdrop of climate change, assess the potential impacts and make policy recommendations.

Included in the study will be assessments of the economic costs of adapting to climate change and what impact the transition to a low-carbon economy worldwide will have on Canadian economic competitiveness.

In the process Climate Prosperity will ask three main questions:
• What risks does climate change pose to Canada’s economic future?
• How can Canada seize the opportunities created by the switch to a low-carbon economy?
• What climate change policies can help secure Canada’s economic and environmental future?

The program overview says Canada is already feeling the impact of climate change and that the world’s economy has already begun a shift toward lower carbon emissions.

With an economy based largely on international trade, Canada needs to be “ahead of the climate change curve” to reduce economic risks and increase potential gains.

“This transition is already leading to investments in clean energy and new technologies,” the report states. “It will demand more emphasis on research and development and private sector innovation.”

The launch of Climate Prosperity coincides with a series of panel discussions that kicked off in Ottawa Oct. 5. Other discussions are scheduled for Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Saskatoon.

Related:

• Climate Prosperity: Degrees of Change